The Super Duper Cheap Way to Making Juice without a Juicer

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small portion of sales for compensation, at no cost to you. All opinions about any products and/or companies are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting Crunchy Hippie Life!

Thanks for sharing!

8

Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but I definitely indulged in a few sweets this holiday season. Our family is especially busy, since our oldest son’s birthday is December 19, and our wedding anniversary is December 21.

Lots of reasons to party, lots of opportunities to eat sugar.

And now I have lots of reasons to rest my poor immune system and do a gentle cleanse and reset.

I’m not a fan of those fad juice cleanses where all I drink is cranberry juice for several days ala Mean Girls, but I am a fan of responsible juicing.

My friend Heather Carvey is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She has her Bachelor’s of Arts in Complementary and Alternative Health, as well as a Diploma of Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu. She and I met on a Facebook group for female entrepreneurs and it was via her instagram (go follow her, she’s amazing!) that she introduced me to the practice of drinking celery juice first thing every morning.

After about a month of this, I’ll be honest, I haven’t noticed a huge difference on how my body feels as far as “detoxed,” but I have noticed that when I drink celery juice in the morning I have more lasting energy during the day and I drink more water. Between celery juice and lemon water, I have cut my coffee consumption by at least 2 cups a day!

I asked Heather to explain why we should begin the practice of daily celery juice, and she kindly obliged:

2 years ago, when I was suffering from debilitating adrenal fatigue, the last thing I wanted to do every morning was get up and pull out my juicer instead of my usual French press. Truth is, juicing celery every morning was one of the foundational parts of my recovery and one of the first things I have my clients start implementing on a daily routine.

Celery juice is amazing for health, recovery and healing. The cluster mineral salts in it are healing for the adrenals and it has compounds in it that starve off pathogenic bacteria in the gut, which boosts the immune system and helps other systems function more optimally. Celery juice can help with skin issues, digestive disorders, fatigue, and so much more. To get the full benefits from this you’re going to want to drink it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. A lot of people try to add other things to it (cucumber, etc), but this is a mistake as it dilutes the medicinal properties of the celery.

Typically I recommend about 16 ounces in the mornings unless you feel particularly toxic and need additional healing, then you can up it to 32 ounces with half of it in the afternoon. One bunch of celery makes about 16 ounces, but beware, celery is on the dirty dozen list for highly sprayed crops, so if you can, try to opt for organic whenever possible. Celery juice helps the body detox and the liver speed up production of bile, which helps with digestion. Its anti-inflammatory properties can help with a number of health issues ranging from arthritis to osteoporosis.

Some people might wonder why anyone would want to go through all this hassle when you can just buy juice from the store, but the truth is, the store options are far from healthy and wont get you very far. A good juice will separate. This is one of the first things to look for if you choose to go this route. Most store bought juices contain fillers and additives that keep it from separating. Also most store bought juices have to be pasteurized for safety and to prolong shelf life, which kills off most of the beneficial bacteria and phytonutrients in the juice. The biggest aspect for me was the price. I could buy a juicer and make my own at a fraction of the cost of buying a $5 a day juice habit.

Obviously, juicing is much easier if you have a juicer. But if you’re just starting out and you’re not sure you want to invest in something yet, there is another option:

How To Juice Without A Juicer

I have a Ninja blender. It has a center blade tower in the container, which means it blends a bit differently than a Vitamix, which blends from the bottom and comes with a tamper for pushing your food down towards the center. Either brand would work just fine, however the resulting mixture will probably be smoother in texture using a Vitamix since it draws all the liquids down to the blades with its motion, vs the center tower of the Ninja will “spit” the plants back towards the actual container.

After you blend everything thoroughly (I let it blend for at least a minute), you will need to strain the juice from the pulp somehow. Traditionally, cheesecloth was always the suggestion of choice when I was younger.

I use a small towel. And yes, it did stain my towel green, so don’t use an heirloom if you decide to use a towel.

The Basics

Well, I basically told you above.

But now let’s tell you again in picture form:

Gather your items.

Chop your celery.

Prep your strainer setup- mine is super basic!

Strain.

Obviously, there are several ways you could make this easier on yourself. Using a nut milk bag instead of a kitchen towel as a strainer, for instance.

You see, living a healthy lifestyle on a budget means that occasionally, you have to get creative with how you make healthy living and frugal finances mesh. This way, I still get the benefits of daily celery juice, but without the extra expense of purchasing an expensive juicer. Yes, it takes a minute or two longer and I’m totally sure it involves more dishes than a juicer, but I am using what I already have to create a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family, which is the ultimate goal.

I do want to buy an actual juicer at some point (specifically this one). I would like to have a masticating juicer as opposed to a centrifugal juicer, because apparently the motor of the centrifugal juicers can heat up and make the juice warm. The concern there is that there could be changes to the most delicate enzymes in the produce when exposed to heat. Masticating juicers are also quieter, which would be a great feature since I’m usually making juice around 6am.

Also in me fashion, I don’t want to pay full price for anything, so I’m waiting for one to show up on my local buy/sell/trade site.

And until then, I will happily continue making my daily celery juice without a juicer.

If you found this helpful, don’t forget to share for future reference!

Mrs. Crunchy

Juicing the celery is much easier than eating an entire stalk of celery each day! Plus all that fiber would have….other consequences. It’s very low in sugar, so is not as big a deal as juicing lots of high-sugar fruits where the fiber would help control the glucose spikes.

About Me

Welcome! My name is Amanda Kintz. I'm a hippie Registered Nurse, and I absolutely love to share all the weird and wonderful ways to live a healthy lifestyle on a budget. Make yourself at home, and be sure to subscribe for access to my free resource library!

Join the Crunchy Hippie Library!

Live your best and healthiest life on a budget with the help of every free resource on the site!